Cross Play In Overwatch Is 'More Difficult Than People Realize'

Some of today’s popular online games are offering cross-play support, with Fortnite and PUBG being the first ones to do so in the genre. Even Activision’s very own Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is expected to introduce this feature soon. But as far as Blizzard is concerned, cross-play is not something you can just implement in Overwatch.

In an interview, the game’s principal producer Wes Yanagi said that cross-play is “definitely compelling.” But when it comes to actually implementing it in the first-person online shooter title, it is unlikely to happen soon.

"Cross-play is something that would definitely be compelling for players, and as a player, I would love to see it happen. The truth is that implementing cross-play for Overwatch is more difficult than people realise," Yanagi said.

That being said, Yanagi also went to suggest that Blizzard is really interested in the feature. In fact, it has already started looking into cross-play support for Overwatch. "We are exploring how to bring this to Overwatch, but do not have anything to share at this time," he said.

As of this writing, Overwatch does not support cross-play on any of its versions. In other words, players can only play with other members of the same community. If you are on a PS4, expect to only play with other PS4 users.

Earlier this year, Blizzard talked about how the studio was "excited about the potential" for cross-play support with Overwatch. However, the video game company revealed in a statement that “there's still a lot of work to do on both our side and the platforms' side to determine whether this is something that makes sense for Overwatch, and we're keeping an eye on how cross-play systems and technology develop."